Bedding and furniture products such as mattresses, box springs, foundations, futons, cushions and other, similar products generally are shrink wrapped or otherwise wrapped in a plastic sheeting material for protection during storage and transport. Typically, a polyethylene sheeting material or similar, relatively durable plastic wrapping material or film will be used to encase the mattresses or other bedding or furniture products with the edges of the plastic sheeting material or film generally being sealed or otherwise attached together to substantially encapsulate or enclose the product therein. The plastic sheeting material generally will protect the mattresses or other products from being soiled and/or stained with liquids, dirt or other debris, as well as protect the sides and ends of the mattresses from damage during handling and storage as the mattresses are stacked and/or moved along their side or end edges.
A problem that exists with most conventional packaging machines, however, is that such machines often are limited in the speeds they can package the mattresses, bedding or furniture products, which can lead to a slow down or delay in the completion of the manufacture of such products for shipment. Still further, such machines typically are in substantially constant use, and as a result, can break down frequently or experience wear on their components. For example, over time, the sealing assemblies used for heat-sealing the plastic sheeting material about the mattresses, etc., can become fouled with melted plastic, or their heating elements can burn out. In such an event, the sealing assemblies in most conventional wrapping machines generally must be completely disassembled and substantially rebuilt to repair them, which accordingly can cause the packaging machine to be out of service for extensive periods of time.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need exists for a system and method for packaging bedding and/or furniture products that addresses the forgoing and other related and unrelated problems in the art.